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I finally FINISHED another lot for Whimsett Cove! It feels good. :D I’ve been very off and on with my Simming lately, and when I do work on it, I jump around and don’t get much done. I had given myself a goal of getting WC to a playable state by November 1st, and it was looking like an impossibility given my lack of focus, but after finishing this lot, I’m feeling more optimistic! OK, so maybe I won’t get the whole town done in 6 weeks, but I think I can get the main core finished, and that will feel like a huge accomplishment.

This new lot is a combo lot: Dino’s Comics & Games and Dawn’s Dance World. It’s across from the village green, next to my Business lot (bank/real estate/newspaper/diner cart — which I just realized I’ve never shown here, I guess because it’s not completely finished yet *facepalm*).

The lot is owned by a husband-and-wife team Dino and Dawn Fortman — Dino (pronounced “Deen-o”) is a comic book artist and also runs the comics shop, and Dawn is a dance instructor (who also performs as an Acrobat). They have a wonderfully nerdy teenaged daughter named Alyce, who likes to cosplay as a superhero.

The houseboat trip around the island of Matkooskee continues! For this session of gameplay, I tried another of Burnt Waffles’ lighting mods — Fresh Cut Day 2.5 with St. Clair water. I think this one might be a keeper. I wasn’t sure about the auroras — there’s only a 25% chance of them, but that’s more often than I wanted them (they’re beautiful but just don’t fit in with my coastal New England-y theme), so I asked Burnt Waffles if she would mind making a version with no auroras, and she very kindly obliged! So now I’m using the Fresh Cut Day 2.5 with St. Clair water and NO chance of auroras. *happy dance*

But I’m getting ahead of myself! Back to the auroras days and the Mortinez boys (and Betsy) on their little trip…

Last we left them, they had just visited the lighthouse on the southern side of the island and spent their second night on the houseboat. As the sun rose the next day, Lucas got his first skill point in fishing!

Shortly thereafter, he got his first point again. Wait, what? I checked his Skills, and he had NO points in fishing, even though I had received notification that he had gotten the first point…twice. Hrmm! Curious! Just one of the weird glitches I’ve been experiencing since the patch and IP. I have minimal mods in — even with Twallan’s I have it pared down to just MC, SP, Decensor, Register, Overwatch, and Error Trap, so I’m not sure what’s going on.

Well, the new Island Paradise Expansion was released last Tuesday, and I’ve been having a great time exploring the new features in the pack — mainly the BOATS! I gotta say, being able to take my Sims out boating on the open water is one of those things I never knew I wanted in my game, but now that I have it, I love it! There’s so much variety in types of boats – rowboats, sailboats, aqua sleds, speedboats, pedalboats, and of course the houseboats. The first time I heard about the houseboats, I imagined good old Uncle Elvis owning one and taking it out to sea for fishing trips. So naturally, Uncle E., along with his son Lucas, was my first Sim in Whimsett Cove sail the seas.

First I wanted to try building a port (mainly as a place for his houseboat to dock), so following SimGuruSemedi’s tutorial, I built one along Timberline Beach (where Uncle Elvis and the Theater Trio live).

It’s a pretty simple pier, with a gangway for a houseboat and then some other boats (rowboats, sailboats, and a pedalboat).

My anti-spam plug-in wasn’t working (HUGE thank you to Sandy for letting me know!), so I’ve switched over to a new one. If you tried to leave comments in the last few days, I apologize! They should be working now. :-)

Hi there! Remember me? Fran Mortinez? Long time, no see, right? :-D I used to live in Mariner’s Reach, where I tried to fish for a living and had luck making friends but no luck in my love life (which is OK, I’m having fun anyway…really! ;-p).

Since then, I’ve lived in a few different places, but right now I live in a dusty little desert town called Salty Springs.

Some of you might know the more famous town next door, Lucky Palms. Salty Springs is like Lucky Palms’ destitute cousin. Long ago it was a trendy resort area on the edge of a vast and sparkling lake, but since the lake dried up (mysteriously, of course…these things always happen mysteriously), it’s been kind of a ghost town.

Although it’s getting better — there’s a new art center, and some cool research is being done at the Area 52 Test Labs…but more on all of that later. I’m already spamming you to death!

This multi-purpose lot is owned by the Theater Trio: Jeromy Stearns, Paolo Gil, and Shannon Milbrandt. It is comprised of the Edgecombe Theatre (a small town playhouse), an art shop/studio called Art Happens, and the Backdrop Coffee Shop, where visitors can grab a cup of coffee or a bite to eat. The coffee shop also has local art on display which patrons can buy if they wish.

This rustic-modern beach house is where friends and business partners Jeromy Stearns, Paolo Gil, and Shannon Milbrandt (introduced here) live. And since all their names are a bit much to type every time, I’ll just call them the “Theater Trio” from now on. ;-)